


Worth It

by shizuoh



Series: perfection and power are overrated [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Bending (Avatar), Bullying, Firebending & Firebenders, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, it all turns out ok tho, yams doesnt deserve this im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 16:43:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5673094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shizuoh/pseuds/shizuoh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukishima has always been protective of Yamaguchi, Yachi notices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> title is from fifth harmony bc thats the song i was listening to while writing this. its a catchy song ok
> 
> this is part of my atla au series, and u dont have to read the other ones bc its not in any kind of order but hey.....if u want to........i wont judge...
> 
> this could've been written better but hey yknow

Tsukishima has always been protective of Yamaguchi, Yachi noticed one day.

It seemed that (almost) everyone had noticed it as well, and she was just late. She mentioned it to Daichi one day, and became flustered and embarrassed when Daichi just nodded and winked at her—knowingly.

Yachi wondered what the context of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's relationship was, but she figured it wasn't any of her business.

 

* * *

 

Ever since he was young, Yamaguchi had been a easy target for bullies. He was weak, thin, and was used to being picked on by people much, much bigger than himself. He didn't stand up for himself very well, and it only caused the bullies to mess with him more and more and more.

He never told Tsukishima, afraid that he would laugh or make fun of him like the bullies did (even though, in the back of his mind, a whisper told him that Tsukishima would never do that). Or, on a more severe note, he was afraid that Tsukishima might hurt the bullies, and he didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him—even if those getting hurt had hurt him first.

But what those bullies didn't know was that Yamaguchi could probably give them the most severe of burns and char their skin.

He was a surprisingly proficient firebender. While he hadn't been very good as a child (he could barely produce a spark, let alone a _flame_ ), once he entered high school, he began picking up tips from other firebenders around him and improved rather quickly.

The only other firebenders in Karasuno were Noya, Kageyama, and Yachi. While Kageyama's firebending proved extraordinary and Noya's seeming extremely light and almost blue, Yachi's was unknown. She seemed afraid of showing off her bending, and wouldn't say why.

Yamaguchi's internal rambling was cut off when the cold metal of a ring chipped his chin, surprising him and causing him to fall backwards onto the ground. He stumbled, landing on his back, and hearing his spine made an uncomfortable crack. The faceless (or, at least, faceless in his mind) figures towering above him laughed and laughed. One even spat on him.

"Yikes," one said with a shake of their head. "How pathetic."

Pathetic. There was that word again. No matter who it was, all the bullies would call him that. _Pathetic pathetic pathetic weak weak stupid stupid useless useless useless_ —

One of the bullies' feet landed on his face, pressing him further into the concrete and cracking his nose.

 

* * *

 

"T-Tsukishima!"

The blond looked up, removing his headphones and looking down at the frantic Yachi who was giving him a worried look. He blinked, "What?"

"Um... I was wondering if..." She began fumbling with her fingers, and Tsukishima almost expected her to confess to him or something. "Have you seen Yamaguchi?"

Oh. Speaking of Yamaguchi, "Oh, no, I haven't. I'm actually looking for him right now—"

"He looked really worried when I was trying to talk to him and then he just ran away!" Yachi exclaimed loudly, and then widened her eyes as she lowered her voice, "I-I mean, I thought he was with you... because he always is..."

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. "Which direction did he go?"

"Oh! Um"—Yachi turned and pointed towards the left—"That way."

"Let's go." He turned and started walking in a quick pace towards that direction, not caring that Yachi was trying to catch up to him.

His mind was focused on Yamaguchi and Yamaguchi alone.

 

* * *

 

Yamaguchi had blocked out all of the bullies' taunts and insults already, choosing to just let it pass and then hurry home afterwards so he could make his wounds unnoticeable. Maybe with his mother's makeup—he just had to make sure she didn't see him all bruised and cut up, and actually taking the makeup was an entirely different story.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the sole of a shoe moving towards his ribs as if in slow motion, and then time sped up as the heel dug into his rib and purposefully stepped on him. He choked, jerking upwards, and fell back onto the concrete with a groan as his body gave out due to exhaustion. Trying to deal with bullies right after volleyball practice was not a good idea.

He heard the faint laughs of the bullies. "Try to knock him out," he heard one say, and closed his eyes as he prepared for impact.

But nobody came.

Yamaguchi heard a shout, and opened his eyes to see Yachi's small form standing in front of him protectively. His vision was blurry and he could barely see a thing, but he could see the flicker of golden flames dancing around Yachi's fingertips and flowing throughout the form of her body. She was staring directly at the bullies, arms outstretched and fingers splayed to let the fire flow through her.

The bullies took steps back, and then one scoffed as they walked towards her. "A silly girl trying to use bending against us?" they scoffed, rolling their eyes. "Two of us are extremely powerful benders. Maybe even the Avatar—"

They didn't get the chance to finish their sentence, because Yachi had already advanced and slapped their face with an arc of fire. The impact sent them flying back into a tree, a visible scar settling in the form of a long, jagged stripe across their face. 

There was someone behind him, pulling him up, and Yamaguchi was about to panic until he saw the familiar eyes of Tsukishima, and relief flooded his body. He felt like he was going to cry, but he fought against the burning in his eyes, and instead turning his attention to the burning of the ones who had hurt him in front of him.

Yachi clenched her fists, forming a suspended ball of fire above her arm. She let out a slow breath before twirling and sending it flying towards the second bully. They tried their best to get away from it, but then the flames licked at their back and set their shirt ablaze. Yamaguchi almost felt bad.

As the third tried to douse the flames on the other, Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and slammed his foot against the ground, sending an underground shock wave that rippled the earth above, and then a rock was protruding out of the ground directly underneath them and they were both flying in the air and out of sight.

This time, Yamaguchi let himself laugh.

Yachi took a few deep breaths, sweat rolling down her forehead, and she lowered her arms and slumped tiredly. Yamaguchi ran up to her, putting a hand on her back in concern, and Yachi just smiled weakly at him.

"I'm not... very good at controlling my bending," she finally said after catching her breath. "I guess, I just didn't... want to hurt anybody."

Yamaguchi nodded in understanding, and then finally turned his head to look at Tsukishima. The blond was giving him a hard stare, his emotions unreadable even though Yamaguchi was used to reading him like an open book.

"I'll be fine," Yachi said, pushing Yamaguchi towards Tsukishima and laughing. "I'll just go to bed early when I get home."

"Text me when you get home, okay? I want to make sure you're safe," Yamaguchi said, and when Yachi nodded, walked over to Tsukishima with a smile.

"Hey, Tsukki," he said, and then giggled. "Thanks for saving me."

The blond, to his surprise, blushed lightly and turned his head away with a _tch_. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered, trying to put his headphones over his ears and walk away. Yamaguchi scoffed, grabbed at his hood, and pulled him down until he was able to reach his lips with his own.

Tsukishima's eyes widened, and he wasn't sure what to do with the hands that were just kind of up in the air around Yamaguchi. The latter did all the work though, smiling against Tsukishima's lips and giving one final peck before letting him go and strutting beside him. Tsukishima was left staring at him, flabbergasted and red-faced, until he finally managed to catch his voice.

"Wha—Where did you learn how to do that!?"

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> this was quick and lame and kinda sucked but oh well im gay and so is tsukishima


End file.
